When I was young, a school sex scandal was when someone got some. Times evidently have changed, as reflected by two stories currently in the news.
In New York, there has been an uproar over a former music teacher who has been in the “rubber room” for 13 years. (In New York, teachers who deserve to be fired, but can’t be because of union rules, are barred from the classroom but paid anyway. This status is referred to as the “rubber room.”) Aryeh Eller was dismissed from the classroom in 1999 for repeated sexual harassment of female students. Since then, he has continued to draw a salary of $85,000 annually–nearly $1 million total, so far–for not teaching. His brother defends the practice:
“What do you expect? He’s union,” Ayton Eller said yesterday. “That’s how much teachers get paid.” …
Ayton Eller said his brother is misunderstood. “He’s a genius,” he said. “He was always very smart. He’s very talented.”
No doubt. In addition to lavish benefits, his salary for not teaching continues to escalate:
His salary has steadily grown due to automatic longevity increases that are not affected by his “rubber-room” status.
We live in a world gone mad. A little closer to home, here in Minnesota, we have a school sex scandal of a different type–and a cheaper one, happily. The University of Minnesota, where one of my daughters is a student, is sponsoring a program on the female orgasm:
Orgasm aficionados and beginners of all genders are welcome to come learn about everything from multiple orgasms to that mysterious G-spot. Kate and Marshall cover it all with lots of humor, plenty of honesty, and an underlying message of sexual health and women’s empowerment.
The NY Post illustrated its story on the U of M program with this photo, courtesy of Shutterstock
The event is co-sponsored by the Womens Center, Women’s Student Activist Collective, Aurora Center for Advocacy & Education, GLBTA Programs Office (if you don’t know, don’t ask). We are still waiting for the first university program to celebrate the sexual health and men’s empowerment exemplified by the male orgasm.
The good news is that this program cost *only* $3,400. Is it a complete waste of money? Suffice it to say that I have more confidence in America’s youth than the administrators at the University of Minnesota do.
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